The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
There is a growing market in the automotive field for electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, and specifically “plug-in” vehicles that include batteries that may be recharged from ordinary household electrical circuits. These plug-in electric vehicles are designed to operate primarily on battery power, thus reducing the quantity of emissions (such as greenhouse gases) from the vehicle.
One of the issues associated with plug-in electric vehicles is providing a charge to the vehicle's batteries. Typically, an electric cable is utilized to connect the electric vehicle charging circuitry to household electrical power. In order to provide a degree of shock protection, the electric cable may be provided with an integrated ground fault interruption feature, which is commonly referred to as a Charge Circuit Interrupt Device (“CCID”). The CCID will act similarly to a Ground Fault Interrupter and disconnect electrical power (or “trip”) when a current imbalance between a hot line and a neutral line is sensed.
A typical CCID will have a tripping current threshold of 20 mA, which means that a current imbalance in excess of 20 mA will initiate the CCID to disconnect power. In contrast, a typical household outlet Ground Fault Interrupter (“GFI”) will have a tripping current threshold of 5 mA. Thus, a CCID that is plugged into a household outlet with GFI protection will be disconnected from electrical power at imbalance currents in excess of 5 mA but below the CCID threshold level of 20 mA. Such current imbalances and the associated disconnection may be referred to as “nuisance trippings,” as power is disconnected from the electric vehicle unnecessarily. It would be desirable to provide a CCID that reduces or eliminates nuisance trippings.